E f f e c t s o f t h e N o r t h r i d g e E a r t h q u a k e CHAPTER I

CHAPTER I

Effects of the
Northridge Earthquake

A t 4:31 a.m. on January 17, 1994, eight miles below the surface
of the northwestern end of the San Fernando Valley, an
earthquake shattered the early-morning peace for millions of
California residents. The magnitude 6.7 earthquake generated intense
shaking that, although it lasted for only about nine seconds, caused
widespread damage and enormous economic loss. The communities of
Northridge, San Fernando, West Hollywood, Santa Clarita, Fillmore,
Simi Valley, and Sherman Oaks were generally the hardest hit, but
strong shaking and vulnerable buildings caused extensive damage as
far away as central Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and Whittier.

Earthquake damage is usually described through losses and descriptions

of damaged facilities, but in the end, it is people, businesses, institutions,
and government that pay the price. This chapter is an overview of the
effect of the Northridge earthquake on people, buildings, lifelines, and the
local economy. It is these effects the Commission seeks to reduce in future
earthquakes through improved public policy.
Downs, Los Angeles Times

‰
Fire and water from
broken pipes mixed
on Balboa Boulevard.

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People know whether they can rebuild or have decided to

forfeit their equity and allow lenders to foreclose.
Although the number of lives lost in the
Northridge earthquake was remarkably low con- Many of those affected physically, mentally, and
sidering the intensity of the earthquake and its lo- economically by the earthquake nevertheless re-
cation, 57 people died and nearly 9,000 were in- gard themselves as fortunate, knowing that oth-
jured. The ers suffered more, but for some the combined ef-
numbers of dead fects of change, fear, grief, and uncertainty on top
and injured were of the stress of daily life create frustration and an-
not as high as in ger. Local mental health agencies and commu-
some other natu- nity-based groups reported over 1,150,000 crisis
ral disasters, but counseling interventions, costing over $35 mil-
the earthquake af- lion. Although most victims have adjusted and re-
fected the lives of turned to an appearance of normalcy, for many
more people than the trauma continues.
any previous natu-
ral disaster in the Buildings
United States. The Northridge earthquake was the most expen-
Tobin

The earthquake sive earthquake in the history of this country, with

hit Californians hardest at home. Over 25,000 losses estimated at $20 billion. The greatest por-
Figure 3. Part of “ghost
town” created by the dwelling units were permanently lost or severely tion of those losses was a direct result of dam-
earthquake. damaged, and over 1,600 homes and apartment age to buildings. Over 112,000 structures were
buildings were declared uninhabitable. By mid- damaged in the earthquake. In the City of Los An-
September the Governor’s Office of Emergency geles, over 93,000 buildings were damaged
Services and the Federal Emergency Manage- badly enough to require inspection, and nearly
ment Agency (FEMA) had received over 630,000 2,000 (including 1,500 residential buildings) of
phone calls regarding disaster assistance from those were red-tagged (Figure 4 is an example),
victims of the Northridge earthquake, more than forbidding entry; another 1,000 buildings were
twice the number received after the previous red-tagged in other affected communities. Over
record holder, Hurricane Andrew. FEMA had also 8,800 buildings were yellow-tagged as safe only
received over 265,000 applica- for limited use in Los Angeles; 5,000 more were
tions for individual and family yellow-tagged in other communities.
grants. The Small Business Ad- Although the earthquake damaged structures of
ministration had conducted over nearly every type, most modern buildings (those
535,000 interviews with earth- built to post-1976 codes) performed significantly
quake victims and had approved better than structures built to prior codes. How-
over 100,000 loans totaling nearly ever, three types of structures built to modern
$3.4 billion. codes had a higher-than-expected frequency of
Low-cost housing is proving the damage:
most difficult to replace. Despite 1. Tilt-up concrete buildings
extraordinary city, state, and fed- 2. Steel moment-frame buildings
eral government efforts, including
OES

offers of low- and no-interest 3. Aboveground reinforced concrete parking

loans, nine months after the earthquake, repairs
Figure 4. A red tag on a
building after the have begun on less than half of the 507 build-
Northridge earthquake. ings that provided 11,000 apartments in the now
infamous “ghost towns” (see Figure 3). The own-
ers of the remaining buildings either don’t yet
structures
The most severe damage generally occurred to
buildings designed to codes used before 1976.
The damaged buildings can be divided into three
categories:

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E f f e c t s o f t h e N o r t h r i d g e E a r t h q u a k e CHAPTER I

1. Buildings constructed with suspect and governments.

materials and techniques, such as tilt-ups, SAFETY EVALUATION
Nevertheless, there were several
nonductile concrete frames, and
problem areas:
CLASSIFICATIONS
unretrofitted unreinforced masonry (URM).
 A number of fires in mobile Damaged buildings are rapidly evalu-
2. Buildings designed or constructed with ated after an earthquake to determine
home parks were caused
irregular configurations—for example, whether continued use is
when mobile homes fell from
multistory buildings with inadequately appropriate or whether hazardous con-
their supports and severed ditions are present that should limit en-
braced first stories (like most of the
natural-gas connections. In try. More detailed evaluations gener-
apartment houses that collapsed) and
all, 172 mobile homes were ally follow, and with better information,
hillside homes.
destroyed by fire. These the rating often changes. The ratings
3. Buildings with poor design, construction, or mobile home fires were all for buildings correspond to the color of
maintenance. too predictable; they remain a the placard posted on the structure by
In spite of the good performance of most constant threat throughout the the inspector to
signify its condition (ATC, 1989):
buildings, the economic losses were high. state.
Green: The building is posted as
The damage to nonstructural elements—heat-  Communications failures
Inspected. Buildings in this category
ing and air conditioning systems, lighting fix- hampered the response of have no apparent hazard though re-
tures, suspended ceilings, partitions, and emergency responders. pairs may be required. There is no
equipment—was costly. Nonstructural dam- restriction on use or occupancy.
 Damage to water delivery
age is a significant matter because the value
systems seriously limited the Yellow: The building is posted as Lim-
of these elements generally ranges from ited-Entry. Buildings in this category
efforts of firefighters.
slightly over half of a single-family dwelling’s are believed to have a dangerous con-
cost to as much as 80 percent of the total cost Lifelines dition, especially in an aftershock. En-
of many large buildings. Nonstructural items try is limited to the owner for emer-
make possible a building’s function, and Lifelines—transportation sys- gency purposes, but continuous usage
nonstruc-tural damage can disable buildings tems, communications, and wa- and public entry are not allowed.
that are otherwise safe to occupy. Some hos- ter, gas, and electric utilities— Red: The building is posted as Unsafe.
pitals had to close after the earthquake, even suffered extensive damage. The Buildings in this category are believed to
though they had suffered only minor structural effect of individual lifeline failures represent a life-threatening hazard or
damage, because of damage to sprinkler sys- and combined failures is both di- may be in imminent danger of collapse
rect (gas fires) and indirect (inter- from an aftershock. Entry is limited to au-
tems, power systems, and other vital equip-
ference with emergency re- thorities only.
ment.
sponse). The combined loss of
water pressure, electrical power,
Fires emergency power, and commu-
The earthquake caused relatively few fires, nications, coupled with significant gas-related
although the most spectacular, the fire at a fires, presents a clear and unacceptable haz-
break in a natural-gas transmission line on ard with far-reaching implications for emer-
Balboa Boulevard, was shown so often on gency response and disaster recovery. Only
television that it gave the perception of a more good fortune prevented an even greater disas-
pervasive problem. Good fortune played a criti- ter.
cal role in keeping fires from spreading: there
was no wind, and the area was not experienc- Transportation Systems
ing a dry spell. Another major factor, which
Despite the retrofits and improvements in design
was not a matter of luck, was the high level of
that were made between the 1971 San Fernando
planning and training in local fire
earthquake and this 1994 event, some freeway
departments and utilities, and the earthquake
overpasses collapsed and other portions of the
risk-mitigation programs of many businesses
highway system failed. Most of the bridges that

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were severely damaged were designed prior to San Fernando, Loma Prieta, and other earth-
the changes instituted as a result of the San quakes, but this event presented new problems.
Fernando (1971) and Loma Prieta (1989) earth- For the first time, transmission towers were
quakes. Bridges designed and built after the late toppled at a few locations. Power was restored to
1970s performed relatively well. The direct most of the region within one day and the hard-
cost to repair damaged freeway structures was est-hit areas within three days.
over $350 million.
Emergency and normal Gas
Communications Damage to natural-gas transmission and
communications Communications failures during this disaster re- distribution systems caused fires, including a
sulted in breakdowns in service, misunderstand- spectacular fire on a major thoroughfare, and in-
systems were disrupted
ings, lack of information for making decisions, terrupted service. The earthquake demonstrated
by damage, loss of elec- and, in some cases, loss of lives and property. that some older pipelines are vulnerable to fail-
Emergency and normal communications sys- ure in areas of ground deformation, but that
trical power, increased tems were disrupted by damage, loss of electri- newer pipelines faired well. Because gas-related
cal power, increased call volume, and call con- fires are a major source of losses, efforts to mini-
call volume, and call vergence into and out of the affected area. The mize losses and control leaks are important.
convergence. disruption ranged from delayed dial tones to
nonfunctional radio systems. Cellular phones Water
worked well, but experienced overload. Radio
Damage to the area’s water supply systems,
communication among various police and fire
from northern California and the Colorado River,
agencies was hampered by too few mutual-aid
as well as to distribution lines interrupted sup-
channels, incompatibility of dissimilar radio sys-
plies and hampered fire fighting. The earthquake
tems, and the use of exclusive frequency bands.
damaged five major aqueducts, disrupting the
Many hospital radios and phones did not work, supply from the north. These pipelines serve
requiring the Los Angeles Fire Department to treatment facilities that prepare water for the
send runners and fire units to determine the areas of Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, and San
status of hospitals; paramedic and emergency Fernando Valley. As was the case following the
medical services in the San Fernando Valley had 1971 San Fernando earthquake, significant re-
communications problems; the Los Angeles pairs were also required on local water distribu-
County Medic Alert Center broke down; the tion systems. Water was unavailable to some of
Hospital Emergency Administrative Radio sys- the areas hardest hit by the earthquake for sev-
tem was inoperable in the area of greatest earth- eral weeks.
quake impact; Reddi-Net, a computerized sys-
tem owned by the Hospital Council of Southern The Economy
California that links 86 hospitals, failed. Equip-
ment damage and lack of employee training took The $20 billion in losses that often has been
their toll. quoted as the cost of the Northridge earthquake
covers, primarily, the physical damage to struc-
Electricity tures and lifelines. It does not include many of
the costs related to loss of use, loss of business,
About two million customers in the Los Angeles loss of productivity, and relocation of businesses.
area lost electric power following the earthquake. Though they are significant, these losses are of-
Although power to most customers was re- ten overlooked. It was estimated that the loss of
stored, those near the epicenter, including hospi- use of parts of the transportation system follow-
tals and police and fire stations, were without ing the earthquake cost $500 million in delays
power. Electric utilities made significant progress and lost productivity.
in “hardening” their generating and distribution
facilities as a result of lessons learned in the Overall productivity losses in the Los Angeles

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E f f e c t s o f t h e N o
area in the days following the earthquake were
estimated at $1 billion (Romero, 1994). Indirect
economic effects such as loss of tax revenue,
short- and long-term loss of productivity, and
ripple effects such as foreclosures, abandon-
ment of equity, and redistribution of commercial
activities are extremely difficult to calculate with
any degree of accuracy. Such imprecision
doesn’t lessen the impact, especially to the vic-
tims.
Loss of businesses is creating major problems
in some areas, where these businesses pro-
vided both needed services and jobs. Although
some businesses, trades, and professions are
seeing an increase in demand for their services
and products, fueled in part by government
grants, low-interest loans, and other assistance,
many small businesses remain closed or are
struggling because the nearby residential prop-
erties that housed their normal customer base
remain vacant. Nine months after the earth-
quake, nearly 50 percent of the small busi-
nesses in the most heavily affected area of
Northridge were still not open. The commercial
district in Fillmore and many commercial proper-
ties in communities from the San Fernando Val-
ley to Santa Monica still awaited repairs.
Insured losses exceeded insurance industry
expectations, illustrating the importance of
reducing earthquake risk. The California Depart-
ment of Insurance estimates that over 300,000
claims for earthquake damage repair had been
filed as of October 1, 1994. The size of individual
claims from the Northridge earthquake has
been, on average, two or three times greater than The recommendations in this report propose ac-
claims from previous earthquakes. Insurance
r t h r i d g e E a r t h q u a k e CHAPTER I
companies expect to pay approximately $11 billion
in claims, and some have been driven to the brink
of insolvency. Many insurance companies, believ-
ing their earthquake insurance risk exceeds their
ability to pay future claims, have moved to limit the
number of policies written for earthquake and
homeowners’ coverage in California. Lasting ef-
fects will be felt in terms of the availability of insur-
ance, the amount paid for premiums, and the
quality of coverage. The intense shaking
Conclusions caused severe damage—
The Northridge earthquake was shocking—but damage that could have
predictable. The intense shaking caused severe
damage—damage that could have been much been much worse. Many
worse. Many owe their lives and lack of injuries to
the earthquake’s timing. Thinking of the conse- owe their lives and lack
quences if it had struck when schools, work-
of injuries to the
places, and freeways were at capacity should
force all Californians to new awareness and re- earthquake’s timing.
solve. As it is, the millions of people affected will
recover in time. Debts are being paid. Recovery
should, indeed must, bring such healing, but it
should not cause us to forget.
The Northridge earthquake was a reminder. It
showed us—again—how devastating even a
moderate urban earthquake can be. Scientists
also remind us that California’s urban areas will
continue to experience such earthquakes. Some
of them will be just as intense as Northridge—but
may last longer, causing a wider area of damage
and destruction. They may occur at times when
freeways, office buildings, and schools are filled
with people.
tions so that California will be less vulnerable to
such events.
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